The New Drink That Protects Your Bones

Move over, milk

Forget milk! A new study suggests that OJ could do as much good for your bones as a glass of milk, especially in postmenopausal women.

Researchers from Mt. Sinai’s Bone Program set out to see whether vitamin C could slow bone loss. Using mice whose ovaries had been removed (to mimic menopause) the researchers compared bone loss between those that had received large doses of vitamin C to those that hadn’t.

After eight weeks, the mice that had received vitamin C had similar bone density to mice that had kept their ovaries—much greater than those that hadn’t gotten the vitamin C. The meaning was clear: “Vitamin C prevents bone loss in mice after removal of their ovaries,” says study author Mone Zaidi, MD, director of the Bone Program.

In human terms, that means that vitamin C could also help prevent bone loss in postmenopausal women—a finding that supports past observational studies in humans.

So are you getting enough C to boost your bones? Probably not: One in three Americans isn’t. The official recommendation for vitamin C is 75 mg a day for adult women, but many experts think around 200 mg is best.

Here’s how to crank up your C intake:

Strive for more than five. Five fruits or veggies a day will typically only provide about 26 mg of vitamin C, says Carol Johnston, PhD, professor and associate director of the nutrition program at the School of Nutrition and Health Promotion at Arizona State University. (Check out these simple ways to up your veggie intake.)

A supplement can help. If you can’t always manage to get in all the fruits and veggies you should, supplements are a good option. “Vitamin C is stable as a dry powdered form,” says Johnston. Just be sure to look for the USP verified symbol on the supplement to assure the highest quality supplement. (Which other vitamins should you be getting? See the Best Vitamins For Women.)